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The Nokia N900 users have for long for the requested for a software upgrade, mostly to improve the GPS experience to a standard similar to the one on S60 5th edition smartphones.

The Nokia N900 is the only Nokia smartphone that runs on Maemo 5, so there is little support for it. An upgrade of this platform, is in collaboration with Intel’s Moblin, which has been announced, and it will be MeeGo. The latter system will not be compatible with the N900 (that is, officially from Nokia) due to the requirements of the MeeGo software which the Nokia N900 can’t unfortunately meet.

With the PR1.2 firmware, the email has been upgraded, with the ability to accept or decline an event invitation from the application itself, a Facebook IM client has been supplied with software, as well as video-calling which helps greatly for the Skype users.
A few apps that had portrait limited functionality, has been modified.
The Ovi Maps is the app needs the most improvement which it received only a basic update  in terms of user experience. There is no say of voice guidance for GPS navigation yet.

The Nokia N900 PR 1.2 (V10.2010.19-1) software update is available in selected countries only, with most of the world receiving it in the future. Alternatively, the users may download the image from here, and follow this guide to install it manually.

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You often get lost and wander around, in a car and walking so to stop that, fortunately the Nokia N900 maps is there to save you. The Nokia N900 comes with a good version which some are actually very keen to try out and I got the chance to. Do you remember that we have already looked at Maep for Nokia N900? If not, check that article.
Looking at the app, it is has a good appearance and that it also is very user friendly.
The version 3.03 I used in the Nokia N900 is much better than the 2.0 used in the Nokia N95′s. The bottom black is no more as it used to be on the N95.
With the Nokia N900 Maps, you don’t have cool add-ons such as street view or turn-by-turn navigation and the newer version is supposed to be better to promote it but that doesn’t apply here because already the GPS signal is slow with the satellite. Unfortunately no user hacks or third party developers can fix those problems. So until now, the Maps are not so good for me. Also, you are allowed between common zoom levels.
As for the maps pricing, there is a cost, some countries do have 1 day licence while others don’t have a 30 day licence. You can check the spreadsheets on the Image Gallery Above.
In conclusion, a maps application is a must for the Nokia N900.

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The S60 software platform is slowly ageing away with Maemo covering it up. So I have to say, that the S60 users have to now get used to Maemo. You’ll hear me say this a couple of times here at our Nokia N900 blog.
Maemo 5 is currently present on the Nokia N900.
The Maemo OS which is based on Debian Linux and the GUI which is derived from various frameworks and libraries. The software uses the window manager, and GTK-based Hildon as its GUI and application framework..
Maemo 5 actually has nice 3D games cooking up for us with a new Twitter app.
Here is something that you can expect for the Nokia N900 :

So you can see that Maemo is actually better than Symbian but only in a few ways. The best thing is that you have the terminal to fix problems and awesome games e.g the roller coaster game in the video is really testing our patience.
At work/home and your laptop or computer stops working? Then use your Nokia N900, it is a mini computer in your hands.
With (Maemo) Debian Linux based, Mozilla, the internet browser technology and the Nokia N900 deliver a extremely good mobile experience. The device shows where Nokia is going with software and Nokia should continue to work with the community to unlock the new software capabilities.
Maemo is something that is fuses the power of the computer, the internet and the mobile phone, which is great to see that it is evolving marvelously. If you have any different opinions, let us know at the Nokia N900 forum.

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Just as the last time, when new firmware update appeared there might be a problem during installation. Let’s gather some tips how to cope with this process smoothly.
First things first: Before you start updating using any of described methods it’s good to update your data! One of users (thanks Stan) advised to backup everything and restore everything but ‘settings’ (so restore contacts, messages etc. but no settings) not to make N900 ‘sluggish’.
Over The Air (OTA)
First way to install PR1.2 update is the easiest one, it includes running App manager and updating package that appears as Maemo 5. People that have clean PR1.1.1 update installed (without any additional packages) say it’s going smoothly without problems.
If OTA update fails there is possibility that you have not enough space on rootfs, you can have a look at maemo.org wiki page for the solution. Another option is to go to terminal and try to run apt-get upgrade command, which should show you existing problems and conflicts of packages, then you can remove or install problematic packages when you know which it is.
Nokia Software Updater (NSU)
Most of Nokia devices can be upgraded using this windows software, I advise to download the latest version before trying to update. Then all you have to do is run the application and follow the steps displayed on computer screen.
One of users (thanks lee) noted that he ran into situation when NSU stated that he has the newest software and was unable to run update OTA. There is option to reinstall this ‘current version’ (which is PR1.1.1 most probably) and after that device should be ready to update OTA to PR1.2 without any problems.
flasher (flashing device via USB on Windows and Linux)
You can flash device manually using latest binary images for N900. First of all you need flasher itself, available here, available for Windows or Linux and for Mac OS X. The second thing is flash image and most probably eMMC image, available here after putting your IMEI number (you can find this by going to settings ‘About product’ page). I strongly advise to check md5 sums after downloading any …

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We’re all waiting for PR1.2 update for quite long time. Some people say it’s way too long and Nokia doesn’t really care about users. On the other hand there is no point in releasing partially tested update with more bugs than previous version and I think this is good point of view.
While waiting I’m following all of the news I can find. Yesterday there was another speculation about when PR1.2 will come. At first I’ve had mixed feelings, varying from hope to irritation. After PR1.1.1  it was said to be released ‘soon’ and we all found out that amount of time given in such unspecified way may be highly relative. I hope Nokia worked really hard while ‘soon’ was growing.
Apart from speculations I’m frequently checking maemo.org wiki PR1.2 page, at least every morning and… Surprise! According to the latest news our long awaited update will be released to public today (May 25) in UK and tomorrow (May 26) for rest of the world. For most of users this it should be available Over The Air, so you can check App manager for Maemo 5 updates, alternatively there should be possibility to use Nokia Software Updater (for Windows users) or flasher (for Linux users). If you have any problems with this update feel free to ask, I’ll try to point solution for any problem.
What else can I say… Finally!
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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As I mentioned in previous news N900 was released in Hong Kong with PR1.2 software, just a day after Chinese websites announced leaked update, that you can flash to your device.
Changelog according to user who tried this update includes smoother scrolling, FM transmitter forcing for devices without hardware, new app manager and flash version and working USSD codes without using additional widget. Image to reflash N900 was uploaded to several sharing servers and are still available for download. Nevertheless Nokia reacted to this quite fast and tweeted warning message:
@nokconv Be careful! Unofficial #N900 v1.2 firmware on web causing damage to devices! Don’t download! Follow @nokconv for official announcements
This is the main reason why I won’t give you any links to download or try this unofficial PR1.2or not even trying myself. Normally I encourage to use software from extras-devel and extras-testing, but this time it’s different, flashing device with firmware from uncertain sources, completely detached from Maemo community, is far more dangerous.
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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This time let’s have a look what’s going on all over the world.
N900 with PR1.2 available in Hong Kong!
We’re all waiting for new update but apparently Nokia wants to make us wait for PR1.2 some more time when users in Hong Kong will test it in the wild. During last few days it was released in there and some time after Jussi Mäkinen confirmed that it will be released soon for the rest of the world. I hope that ‘soon’ is a little bit closer than the one mentioned on maemo.org wiki. In the mean time we can watch (below) and get more and more excited.

Motion controlled games on N900
While looking all around the web you may have found johanneskuhlmann’s youtube channel. There you may see some exemplary videos of what can we do with front camera and some software used for face recognition or movement tracking. If games will look at least a little like this I’m really interested. After some productions using accelerometers to control action (for example Bounce Evolution) this will be nice step ahead and I’m looking forward to see at least good demo on my N900. Have a look at videos on youtube.

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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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If you follow software updates frequently you may have noticed some new updates in extras-devel and extras-testing catalogues which cannot be installed because of unresolved dependencies. I’m fully aware of the date today, but I cannot take everything as a joke and this time I think it’s not a joke. If you follow Maemo 5 development and this blog, you should already know that new system update is almost ready to be released, application developers already have SDK PR1.2 to adapt their applications to this new firmware.
Let’s have a look into App Manager and maybe some of my installed applications. As you can see Maepad 1.5 is available but trying to install it causes error, and going to details shows unresolved dependency of libhildon1 (>= 2.2.10). This package is one of base of Maemo 5 UI and it comes with system. If you’re a little skilled with console and APT you can easily check current version of this package installed (which is for me 2.2.3-1+0m5). Similar situation with QtIrreco 0.3.1-1 update with unmet dependencies of total 5 libqt4 packages (>=4.6.2~git20100224) making update unable to install.
As we know Qt 4.6 will come with PR1.2 update and I assume the same goes to Hildon 2.2.10 so I think that broken updates are not to be afraid of this time. It’s part of good job done by developers, making their packages ready for Maemo 5 PR1.2 update!
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For more info on devel and testing catalogues visit Application catalogues tutorial
Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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Few weeks ago I was writing about PR1.1.1 update and honestly I was expecting next big update to come in really short time, just like two previous updates PR1.0.1 and PR1.1 but apparently I was wrong. Nevertheless we can already have some look at the features that will come with expected PR1.2 update. If you are familiar with development for N900 you may be already aware of SDK PR1.2 existance. And today you can see which changes from SDK will be included in actual update.
So what’s the difference exactly? SDK changes (you can find more at maemo.org Talk) are quite wide. Virtual keyboard will have new look (not big for me, since I never used it), few updates in browser making it even faster than before (judging from opinions) and more customizable. Moreover, we will most probably have one of the most desired features, rearrangable menu without ‘More…’ element. Phone settings will be enriched with video calls and blocking SMS for landline numbers. In addition to that thee are few more minor updates.
And finally which of that is true? Apparently most of this features will be soon available, if to belive one of the most reliable sources – maemo.org wiki  (or to be exact PR1.2 wiki page) you should know what is the full list of features and bugfixes for upcoming update, just have a look. There is still no release date, but I’m sure it will come in time…
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Please visit Nokia N900 Forum

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Yesterday, as every day, I’ve launched app manager to check new updates and take a peek into new software. Suprisingly i’ve found Maemo 5 update available Over The Air. Small research around the web gave me idea what is it all about.
First system update I’ve noticed before was PR1.0.1, also available via app manager but it was rather small and its main purpose was to prepare device for bigger PR1.1 update. Situation looks similar this time, PR1.1.1 is fairly small, list of changes isn’t astonishing, stability fixes, more support for OpenGL, fix for battery life issue etc. These facts may lead to conclusion that soon we will get a bigger update, most probably in the next few days.
But for now lets get back to reality and what we already have. Update shows on the list as Maemo 5 and it says it’s 16.2 MB download. Nevertheless you will also need around 42 MB of free space on rootfs, if you have applications from testing and devel catalogues you may need to free some space. After preparations update takes around one minute, reboots and it’s done, you can check product info to be sure.
In short the current update isn’t major breakthrough. I think we can take it as announcment of upcoming Maemo 5/PR1.2 release.

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After having received a firmware update weeks ago (read about it on our related post by clicking here) which it only fixed bugs problem, the Nokia N900 have finally received a new firmware update with major improvements. Under the code name 2.2009.51.1 or as we head up PR1.1, the update brings wide range of improvements as new features, bug fixes too and optimizes functionality and stability of the phone across many applications.
As it’s described on the Nokia Conversations Blog: “First up is support for the Swiss keymat variant with hardware and virtual keyboard layouts supporting the combination of German, Italian and English characters. We’ll also see full compatibility with certain SIM cards from network operator 3. Although only a small number of SIM cards were impacted at the time, this release means the N900 is now fully compatible with 3 SIM cards.”
In addition, Mail for Exchange and Ovi Maps also sees an update. The first one by allowing it to work with Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 giving the possibility of Exchange integration to a much broader group of users. And second one by improvement made to search performance and route calculation.
Among these major changes and much smaller usability improvements, there is a new hidden featured and it has been the most required one. As you might imagine, this new firmware update able the portrait mode! Pressing the key combination Ctrl + Shift + O activates the accelerometer giving the possibility to the device to distinguish between horizontal and vertical. However, it seems that it only works on the web browser and the virtual keyboard doesn’t show on vertical format. Here is a video about it!

For much more details about the improvements and advantages of this new firmware update, please click here.
As the earlier update (1.2009.44.1) main aim was to prepare the device’s application manager for over the air updates, any user who have installed it would received a notification about a new firmware update available. The update it also available through the Nokia Software Updater, if over the air is not an option for you and you would update from …

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As it has been expected, the new firmware update for the Nokia N900 is ready. Under the version code 1.2009.44.1, this new firmware update fixes a numbers of bugs that have been reported for the users and developers at Maemo.org, including just a bit more stability to the Maemo 5 OS.
Apart from the bug fixing, the Nokia Conversations Blog pointed out ““This software update prepares the Nokia N900 for opening the Ovi Store – watch out for a separate announcement for the store opening shortly.”
The firmware update file weighs around 18.5 MB and it’s already available through Over The Air (OTA) or through the Nokia Software Update via a desktop or laptop computer. A back up is recommended as installing it through the Nokia Software Update might erase all the data (mainly settings,apps).

Apparently as the upgrades are not too many and they aren’t the ones that everybody expected, this is a minor update in preparation to a future major update coming soon. Let’s expect this to be true!

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As we already known, Nokia is preparing a new firmware update for the Nokia N900. The release date is still a mystery although the firmware update is called Fremantle PR1.1 by Nokia as it’s a maintenance update according to the Maemo community mailing list.
The news is that Nokia has selected a few contributors in order to join them on the testing experience as these have been received the invitation by mail. However the testers haven’t signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), Nokia encouraged them not to give details about the unreleased firmware update to the public.
The tester job it’s to report bug problems of these new firmware update. However, it already exist a way to report bug problems of the currently firmware by doing it at bugs.maemo.org. So if you have found a few, you are welcome to report it as they could be fixed for the next firmware update.
It seems that the most required feature by the users as the web browsing in portrait view isn’t available on the update according to the source. Apart from that, it seems that these new firmware update makes the Nokia N900 feels snappier.
In addition, Quim Gil from Maemo devices said about the release date: “It will go out when it´s ready”. So try to have your eye wide open for the release of these new firmware update.

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The lack of Portrait Mode for applications other than the phone on the Nokia N900 has been an issue since its announcement. If you remember on the early post on this Blog, we pointed out this people opinion on the Conversations Nokia poll. Probably because with the device stuck in landscape mode, it’s a two-handed device only. A really challenging experience for common-day-use. But take it easy because fortunately Nokia has promised an update that includes at least partial portrait mode support around Christmas. Just a few days!
However, for the impatient people who can wait until some day near Christmas, it seems that you can trick your Nokia N900 into portrait mode somehow as the following video shows.

Apparently there is an existing bug on the Nokia N900 which gives you this opportunity. The bad news for all the lucky readers that already have the Nokia N900 on their hands is that I wasn’t able to find the exact procedure, sorry. All I know is that you’re supposed to launch the phone application (via accelerometer), and then slide the keyboard open while the phone is launching, then close the phone app just as quickly as you can.
If you already saw the video, you should have caught that the UI isn’t working completely harmonic on the portrait mode. It doesn’t adjust very well due to being a bug and not something on purpose that’s my guess.

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The Nokia N900 receives its first public update coming to the device firmware version v1.2009.42.11.
This information may seem irrelevant because as we already know the Nokia N900 hasn´t still hitten the stores, although two days ago the shipment arrived to the USA so we should be receiving news from people who preorder the phone any time soon. But this new firmware update apparently v1.2009.42.11 weighs about 165MB and only available through Nokia Software Updater. Remember that the Nokia’s N900 that were delivered earlier (Nokia N900 preproduction) came up with the firmware version 1.2009.41.10.
I have read from some users who updated their Nokia N900 preproduction that they have to reinstall most of the apps they had it on their phones due to this update. Be carefull!
This new version improvements are overall stability as well as mobile battery life (now that’s something worthwhile to do the upgrade) and as always do not forget to backup before sending the head to be updated.